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[ncr]

Here's a very nice webpage for all music lovers:

http://rateyourmusic.com

(A user-generated information source for music of any kind - NON COMMERCIAL)

This site is a really good idea.....

You can search for music using the box at the top right on every page. It is often very useful, as in many cases, there are a couple of ratings and reviews by other users already. But some more information is still needed for some of the lesser known artists.

If you sign up with a username and password (free and very fast, similar to a message board), you are allowed to rate albums. This in turn will create a very useful overview of your personal album collection, as each time you will be asked whether you own or just want to rate the album. (All your data is accessible via your user page.)

You can also compile a wish list, as well as any other kind of list (e.g. favourite artists, favourite albums by one band, recommended albums for a certain music style, etc.). You can search for other users with a similar taste in music and get computer generated music recommendations (based on your album ratings). And you can add new artists and albums to the database, make corrections and upload cover artwork.

So....

Help to build up / expand this very cool data source!

[jpatokal]

I'll cast a vote for a site with at least some relevance to Thailand:

http://thai.cside.tv/jukebox/

It's a Japanese-language Thai pop fan site, but navigation is easy enough even without language skills (hint: see the Artist List on the right), and -- the important thing -- it has full-length (if lo-fi) copies of almost all showcased songs and artists.

BTW, any recommendations for sugary, brainless girlie T-pop? I've already got Nan's horrible but oh-so-catchy Hula Hoop, but I want to compile a full CD of this for torturing a friend :D

[admin]

Here's a local site that sells Japanese and Euro music...

http://www.vdomusix.cjb.net/

They also keep track of Japanese stars that come to Thailand--such as Johnny Jr.'s arrival at Don Muang

[ncr]

Anyone into Metal here? :D

1. The classic source: www.bnrmetal.com
Covers about 1400 bands; with album and line-up information.

2. Newly discovered: www.metal-archives.com
Seems to have some really detailed info (e.g. demo releases, band members that only played on tour, etc.). Time to delve into it!
22,700 bands - 61,000 albums. 23,000 active users.

3. And as a reminder: http://rateyourmusic.com (for ALL musical tastes, this one)
... 66,800 artists (4,500 of which with profiles) - 292,000 albums - 1.75 million ratings, and counting!

The last two are something of a musical Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.org), as anyone (I mean: registered users) can write reviews and artist profiles there.

[ncr]

An update to my original post.

The site's new version (RYM 2.0) has been online since August 2006 - offering an improved design, plus new functionality: venues, concerts, labels, track listings and more.

To reiterate it: Rate Your Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate_Your_Music) is an ever evolving community based music database; a musical Wikipedia of sorts. From the official blurb:

* rate, review, catalog, and tag your music
* track your upcoming (and past) shows
* find new music and people through recommendations
* create and publish lists of your favorite things
* research music, cross-referenced by label, artist, location, and genre.
* socialize through forums and private messaging
* contribute to an always-growing public music database

There are now more than

* 145,000 members (could use some more from Thailand, or Asia in general!)
* 161,000 artists (46,000 with profiles)
* 650,000 albums
* 6,400,000 ratings
* 2,500 labels

Everyone's invited to join. Registration (http://rateyourmusic.com/account/signup) is quick and painless. Just specify a user name and password. No personal details or email address needed.

As soon as that is done, you can directly contribute to the database by adding artists and albums. Corrections, cover art uploads, artist and label profiles are handled a bit differently - they can be submitted, but need to be approved by an admin or moderator. You can also opt to hide the (rather unobtrusive, anyway) Google ads from your preferences page.

I have been a member since December 2003, and one of the (currently 134) Site Moderators since July 2005. You may find me over there under the same name as on this forum.

[ncr]

http://rateyourmusic.com/images/musicmap/ncr.png (http://rateyourmusic.com/~ncr) :) :) :)

[GWR]

Useful link here if you want to post a link to an article from a source that is likely to expire soon. Useful for linking quotes in this forum for example:
http://www.citebite.com/

It allows you to link direct to a highlighted quote in an article, but the reader is still able to read the full text if they want to. You can't highlight a picture or graphic, but doubtless you can get around that by highlighting its caption text.

Extremely simple to use!

Example:
http://pages.citebite.com/n2c2y0a2v9jqt

[GWR]

As you may know, many of the photos that are displayed in this forum are based in:
http://www.tinypic.com/
However, Tinypic will no longer accept uploads of pictures from Thai servers. Doubtless this is because someone has been uploading pictures that are insulting to the monarchy. Although I suppose it might also be because some of us are too lazy to add tags to our pictures. And perhaps some have complained about the abuse of their image stock.

I have also been using Flickr, but I note they want me to start paying in the New Year:
http://www.flickr.com/

The link below seems like a nice and easy alternative. At least for the time being!:
http://www.2shared.com

Here's a download link for one such upload:
http://www.2shared.com/file/2491531/c8abc8b2/SRT1.html

Or a direct link to the picture itself, but I still haven't figured out a way to adapt the link to enable it to be displayed in this thread! Any ideas?

[Yappofloyd]

Khun GWR, thanks for info and the 2shared.com suggestion.

However, Tinypic will no longer accept uploads of pictures from Thai servers. Doubtless this is because someone has been uploading pictures that are insulting to the monarchy. Although I suppose it might also be because some of us are too lazy to add tags to our pictures. And perhaps some have complained about the abuse of their image stock.
Interestingly, I am now in hanoi and tried to upload an image tonight using Tinypic and the same message came up as in Bangkok; that the country had been banned due to infringement of terms of use.

Perhaps, there is something more widespread going on with Tinypic and Buddhist countries??? Or perhaps Tinypic has a policy against undemocratic countries which would rule out all of the SE Asian countries, (except Cambodia), from Burma to Singapore!:p